Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 92%
| Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) | "
Anderson prizes the funny over the profound to an extent that keeps the proceedings a tad too light and jovial to register as anything more than a lightweight aside to his more acute, earnest work." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 9, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 84%
| Paranormal Activity (2009) | "
The same old thing dressed up in very slightly different clothes." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Nov 9, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 88%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
Moverman's scripting is subdued and emotionally authentic." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Nov 9, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 69%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
Writer-director Richard Curtis is about as rock n' roll as the average great-grandmother, so it's no surprise that Pirate Radio, his ode to the irrepressible spirit of '60s classic rock, has all the electricity of a knitted sweater." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 8, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Fresh 89%
| Adventureland (2009) | "
Content to occupy that middle ground where insights are authentic but far from revelatory and comedy is more amiable than riotous." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Nov 6, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| The Box (2009) | "
Though his narrative's morality-play suspense and Bernard Herrmann-esque score recall Hitchcock, Kelly seems to have selected the '70s so that he can fully channel early-years Steven Spielberg." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 55%
| Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) | "
A clear step in the right direction for Zemeckis and his pet techno-project, the film nonetheless ultimately sabotages itself by prizing the hectic over the heartfelt." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 3, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 33%
| Splinterheads (2009) | "
Despite positioning itself as a Napoleon Dynamite-style comedy about a spazzy social retard, Splinterheads seems to have misplaced most of its jokes." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 75%
| Collapse (2009) | "
Smith's subject Michael Ruppert never registers as much more than an eloquent but largely untrustworthy quack." — Slant Magazine Posted Nov 1, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 93%
| An Education (2009) | "
A teen-targeted public service announcement." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 28, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 88%
| Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire (2009) | "
Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher pile tribulations onto their protagonist not to inform but merely to exploit." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 28, 2009 |
Rotten C+
| Rotten 23%
| Law Abiding Citizen (2009) | "
So blatantly nonsensical that the action quickly tips over into campiness." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 26, 2009 |
Fresh 2.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| Skin (2009) | "
A true-life tale of prejudice that hinges on a unique anomaly." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 25, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 13%
| Labor Day (2009) | "
A promotional film best suited for broadcast in an office lobby." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 21%
| The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) | "
The true abiding love affair here remains between Duffy and QT." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1.0/4.0
| Rotten 44%
| Saw VI (2009) | "
Saw VI plays like the last gasp for relevance of a heavy-metal series that has not only gone regurgitation-rusty but seems lacking much of a will to live." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 24, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Rotten 16%
| The Boondock Saints (1999) | "
[A] dim-witted, aesthetically clunky Tarantino clone." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 19%
| Amelia (2009) | "
Amelia attempts the yeoman's task of recounting a tale about which it has virtually nothing to say." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 22, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Rotten 48%
| Astro Boy (2009) | "
In its best moments, the film exudes an almost Miyazakian love of flight, notably during the hero’s maiden soar through the clouds." — Time Out New York Posted Oct 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Rotten 37%
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) | "
At the very least, such triteness will dredge up a desire to keep the Weitz family -- brother Chris was responsible for the leaden Golden Compass debacle -- away from the first chapters of big-budget franchises." — Time Out New York Posted Oct 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Rotten 26%
| Motherhood (2009) | "
A portrait of parenthood that’s apt to turn one into an ardent advocate of contraception, Motherhood portrays such shrill, mopey and all-around unpleasant adults that it’s hard to believe any of them found procreative partners." — Time Out New York Posted Oct 21, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 84%
| Happiness (1998) | "
Exhibits an almost pitch-perfect balance between condescension and compassion." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 20, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 11%
| The Stepfather (2009) | "
a shabby substitute for its original." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh B+
| Fresh 70%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
A mature, striking exploration of the way that kids feel." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 48%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
Only sporadically feels like an effort interested in grappling with the miserable fallout from tragedy." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Rotten 38%
| Surrogates (2009) | "
Has all the get-up-and-go of a dead battery." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 14, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 12%
| Couples Retreat (2009) | "
Ultimately comes off as merely an excuse for stars to take a vacation on the studio's%u2014and moviegoing public's%u2014dime." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 60%
| Wild Grass (2009) | "
Never congeal[s] into an emotionally coherent or compelling whole." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten C-
| Fresh 69%
| Flanders (2006) | "
[A] stilted, affected term-paper treatise on the human condition." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten C
| Fresh 68%
| Humanité (1999) | "
Feels like an overly deliberate meta-Bressonian prank." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Oct 7, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 29%
| Free Style (2009) | "
For High School Musical fans unwaveringly devoted to Corbin Bleu, Free Style provides ample opportunity to swoon over the former East High basketballer's big floppy hair and Disney Channel-grade emoting." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Fresh 92%
| The Damned United (2009) | "
The parallel-tracks structure smoothly reveals cause-effect relationships even as it sometimes feels designed to gussy up the narrative's straightforward rise-and-fall arc." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 5, 2009 |
Fresh 3.5/4
| Fresh 77%
| Bronson (2009) | "
Bronson is a fast, ferocious, wickedly funny portrait of one man's acceptance of his bone-deep animalism." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
Unlike its spiritual predecessor Shaun of the Dead, Fleischer's film doesn't really get either zombie movies or human relationships." — Slant Magazine Posted Oct 1, 2009 |
Rotten 2.5/4
| Rotten 55%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
The Invention of Lying sets its sights high before settling for comfortable lovey-dovey convention." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/5
| Fresh 73%
| More Than a Game (2009) | "
Belman only skims the surface; even his depiction of the admirable Joyce (who ditched corporate America to chase his dream of being a mentor) shows a preference for tidy sound bites over intense inquiry." — Time Out New York Posted Sep 30, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 0%
| A Beautiful Life (2009) | "
This intertwined tale of people struggling on society's fringe plays like bad community theater." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 29, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 50%
| Hadewijch (2009) | "
Ultimately seems just as calculated and mechanical a pose as Dumont's previous efforts." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 54%
| Intimate Enemies (2009) | "
Says so much that's familiar if not downright clichéd, it winds up saying nothing at all." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 28, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Rotten 27%
| Pandorum (2009) | "
The further Bower journeys into the spacecraft's bowels, with Payton providing navigation tips from back in their original sleep chamber, the less Pandorum unnerves." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 67%
| The Bluetooth Virgin (2009) | "
Neither blue teeth nor virgins make appearances, but Russell Brown’s torpid indie does deliver plenty of ponderous chitchat about truth, deception, criticism and artists’ motivations." — Time Out New York Posted Sep 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| N/A | Sweetgrass (2009) | "
With rugged reverence, Sweetgrass depicts the final sheepherder drive into Montana's Beartooth mountains." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 84%
| Broken Embraces (2009) | "
Old-hat tropes under a superficially stunning veneer." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Rotten .5/4
| Rotten 24%
| I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009) | "
Underlit and generally shot with an eye toward unattractiveness, Beer in Hell also goes for ugliness in its dialogue." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 66%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
Fontaine dramatizes Coco's struggles respectfully if mundanely, crafting believable period detail for her procession of key-life-moment scenes, all of which employ serviceable but far from groundbreaking psychologizing." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 21, 2009 |
Rotten 1/5
| Fresh 62%
| Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009) | "
Narratively and grammatically dim redemption pap." — Time Out New York Posted Sep 16, 2009 |
Fresh 3/5
| Fresh 85%
| Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) | "
It may not have the heart or subtle artistry of Up, but then again, Pixar’s 3-D outing didn’t feature a mustache-tearing monkey, a manchild encased in a giant cooked chicken, or a beefy, bounding cop voiced by Mr. T." — Time Out New York Posted Sep 16, 2009 |
Fresh B
| Fresh 83%
| Bright Star (2009) | "
A period piece typified by restraint, delicacy and the romantic spirit of its renowned subject." — Lessons of Darkness Posted Sep 15, 2009 |
Rotten 1.5/4
| Fresh 69%
| Paris (2009) | "
Klapisch's "It's a small world" plotting is sunk by both bland artistry and dull insights into his milieu." — Slant Magazine Posted Sep 14, 2009 |
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